IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i2p738-d721553.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social Cohesion and Neighbor Interactions within Multifamily Apartment Buildings: Challenges of COVID-19 and Directions of Action

Author

Listed:
  • Branislava Stoiljković

    (Department of Housing, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Niš, 18000 Niš, Serbia)

Abstract

Relations among neighbors are a key indicator of the strength of a local social community, contribute to social cohesion and are an important factor in achieving a higher level of social sustainability. On the other hand, the environment in which people live plays an important role in encouraging social contacts and developing relationships between people. In order to establish social interactions between neighbors within a multifamily apartment building (MFAB), it is necessary to provide adequate spaces for communication between residents. This was especially emphasized during the mobility restrictions caused by COVID-19, although this necessity is permanent. This paper analyzes the influence of the physical characteristics of common spaces in MFABs on the quality and intensity of contacts among residents of MFABs in the City of Niš, Serbia. In order to determine the current quality of these spaces as a physical framework for interactions among residents and to identify the wishes of users regarding interactions with neighbors in these spaces before and during COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, a survey was conducted. The analysis of the survey results and numerous examples of housing design led to (1) the formation of guidelines for future designs of MFABs and (2) recommendations for redefining the standards regulating the field of housing construction in the region, both applicable during the period of the pandemic and after it.

Suggested Citation

  • Branislava Stoiljković, 2022. "Social Cohesion and Neighbor Interactions within Multifamily Apartment Buildings: Challenges of COVID-19 and Directions of Action," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-29, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:2:p:738-:d:721553
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/2/738/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/2/738/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ade Kearns & Elise Whitley & Phil Mason & Lyndal Bond, 2012. "‘Living the High Life’? Residential, Social and Psychosocial Outcomes for High-Rise Occupants in a Deprived Context," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 97-126.
    2. Danica-Lea Larcombe & Eddie van Etten & Alan Logan & Susan L. Prescott & Pierre Horwitz, 2019. "High-Rise Apartments and Urban Mental Health—Historical and Contemporary Views," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-15, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tamir Arviv & Efrat Eizenberg, 2021. "Residential coexistence: Anonymity, etiquette and proximity in high-rise living," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(16), pages 3247-3264, December.
    2. Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo & Nicolas Escoffier & Jane Chan & Tan Puay Yok, 2018. "Window View and the Brain: Effects of Floor Level and Green Cover on the Alpha and Beta Rhythms in a Passive Exposure EEG Experiment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-14, October.
    3. Karen Villanueva & Hannah Badland & Robert Tanton & Ilan Katz & Sally Brinkman & Ju-Lin Lee & Geoffrey Woolcock & Billie Giles-Corti & Sharon Goldfeld, 2019. "Local Housing Characteristics Associated with Early Childhood Development Outcomes in Australian Disadvantaged Communities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-17, May.
    4. Linh Nguyen & Pauline van den Berg & Astrid Kemperman & Masi Mohammadi, 2020. "Where do People Interact in High-Rise Apartment Buildings? Exploring the Influence of Personal and Neighborhood Characteristics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-23, June.
    5. Zihan Kan & Mei-Po Kwan & Mee Kam Ng & Hendrik Tieben, 2022. "The Impacts of Housing Characteristics and Built-Environment Features on Mental Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-19, April.
    6. Zwiers, Merle & Bolt, Gideon & van Ham, Maarten & van Kempen, Ronald, 2014. "Neighborhood Decline and the Economic Crisis," IZA Discussion Papers 8749, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Nurwati Ashikkin Ahmad-Zaluki, 2017. "Community Safety in a Rural Housing Area," GATR Journals gjbssr473, Global Academy of Training and Research (GATR) Enterprise.
    8. Jorge Inzulza-Contardo & Paulina Gatica-Araya, 2019. "Subsidiary displacement and empty plots: Dilemmas of original residents and newcomers in the reconstruction of Talca, Chile 2010–2016," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(10), pages 2040-2057, August.
    9. Tamar Trop, 2017. "Social Impact Assessment of Rebuilding an Urban Neighborhood: A Case Study of a Demolition and Reconstruction Project in Petah Tikva, Israel," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-18, June.
    10. Sajal Chowdhury & Masa Noguchi & Hemanta Doloi, 2021. "Conceptual Parametric Relationship for Occupants’ Domestic Environmental Experience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-28, March.
    11. Danica-Lea Larcombe & Eddie van Etten & Alan Logan & Susan L. Prescott & Pierre Horwitz, 2019. "High-Rise Apartments and Urban Mental Health—Historical and Contemporary Views," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-15, July.
    12. Mette Mechlenborg, 2022. "High Neighbor! Residents’ Social Practices in New Danish High-Rises," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(4), pages 339-351.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:2:p:738-:d:721553. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.